This invention relates to resuscitating devices and in particular to resuscitating devices for use when administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation to a heart failure patient.
Administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation includes performing a cardiac massage while performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation or the equivalent. Such resuscitation is an excellent means of reviving people whose life processes have failed for various reasons, such as heart attack, electrical shock, or the like. In administering the cardiac massage, it is necessary that a rescuer significantly compress the sternum of the patient in a continual and repetitive fashion. Because of the force required to effectively compress the sternum, the rescuer must kneel alongside the patient's torso and apply downward pressure to the sternum with both arms. Because of this, it is quite difficult for a single rescuer to administer the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation that is helpful in these situations while administering the cardiac massage.
Devices have been designed to allow the sole rescuer to provide the equivalent of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a patient while administering the external cardiac massage. These devices typically include air passage means having a mouthpiece at one end for the rescuer and a mouth piece or mask at the other end for the patient.
Drawbacks have existed in the prior art, with one being that existing devices are cumbersome and require a certain amount of time to assemble. Also, existing devices typically have numerous moving mechanical parts which are subject to failure. Further, such conventional devices have normally been relatively expensive and therefore designed to be used numerous times, which necessitates the ability to sterilize the equipment. Because of this, certain medical or paramedical services, such as ambulances, have been unable to use these devices because of their lack of appropriate or suitable sterilizing equipment.
Prior devices have used face masks or the like which must be retained over the mouth of a victim. These devices necessitate the use of straps to secure the mouthpiece to the victim's head before the mask is operable. When using such a face mask, the victim's jaw must be urged outwardly into the breathing position necessitating the movement of the patient's neck which might be quite harmful to accident victims.
Further, prior devices have not included means to provide oxygen enriched air to the patient or means to provide a sufficient volume of air to patients who have lungs which are partially inoperable. This is a problem since some patients who suffer from such infirmities as lung cancer, emphezema, tuberculosis or the like will typically have portions of their lungs damaged to such an extent they will be incapable of passing oxygen to the blood stream yet will be exposed to the air inhaled by the patient. As such, the damaged portions of the lungs will prevent the undamaged portions from being exposed to the air.